Where the air is sweet

Last week, we went on a three night trip to a great water and theme park with familiar and colorful characters.  This was a trip with many firsts: the first time the four of us have stayed at a hotel together, the first time that we attempted daytime travel (as opposed to driving all night, which is great from the kids sleeping perspective, but not so great from the adults not sleeping perspective), the first time the kids went to a water park, the first time we attempted to make it through the day with no nap, and the list goes on.  On the six hour drive home, my mind wandered to a billion blog posts I could write about the trip, none of which could really do the memories justice.  I thought I had a pretty decent idea as to how the trip would go.  But if there is anything I should know by now, as a parent, there is no predicting.

In preparation for the trip, I was sure to pack a selection of healthy snacks, and plenty of things to keep the kids occupied while in the car.  I even got a little crafty and cut felt into little people and clothes and shapes of all kinds so the kids could make their own scenes on their own personal felt boards.  This did prove to be a pretty big hit, if only for the novelty factor, but I did make one mistake - I didn't make two of everything.  Specifically, there was only one "boy" hair and one "girl" hair.  Of course, the girl hair was way cooler and coveted by both.  What I didn't expect to happen on the drive:  our quick rest stop trip turning into over an hour (my kids may be the slowest eaters on earth), and missed naps.  Seriously.  What kid only sleeps for 45 minutes out of a six hour drive?  Mine, apparently.

We neared our destination just in time for the downpour to begin, but there was no way that we were not going into the park.  As the only people entering the park, pushing ourselves and our umbrellas against the sea of people leaving, we weren't even sure that the park was still open.  Sure enough, it was.  And sure enough, the rain stopped soon after, leaving us with a little sunshine and a nearly deserted park.  We were among the first in line for every ride, and got prime seats at the show that evening.  Cortlan rode his first roller coaster.  Everly began her love affair with the swings.

Arriving at the hotel much later than typical bedtime, I was sure that the kids would fall asleep, exhausted, shortly after their heads hit the pillow.  Again, I should know better than to make such predictions.  After a bath and story, the giggle-fest began.  With the two kids in one bed and John and I in the other, the room sounded more like an adolescent slumber party than the dark, peaceful room filled with zzzzz's that I had imagined.  Whispers building up to full out hysterical laughter for who knows what reason had us all laughing.  Then it started to get pretty frustrating.  After around the sixth or seventh trip to their bed for one thing or another, we finally got the sound we were waiting for - quiet.  It was 10:00.  The next night went marginally better.  The trick:  John went to the lobby or exercise area, I put Everly in one bed, Cort in the other, lied and told them I had to go potty, took my book to the bathroom, and waited them out.  They are used to falling asleep by themselves; the more people in the room, the longer the process seemed to take.  With this solution, I at least got to read part of my book, and the process did go a bit faster.

With the exception of a minor head injury (me), some puking (Ev), and some minor meltdowns due to lack of sleep (Cort and Ev), the rest of the trip went off without a hitch.  We had a great time.  Of course, Cortlan would have probably been happy if he could have sat on the forklift or firetruck for most of the day, and Everly would have been content to go back and forth between the swings and the carousal, but at least some of us managed to ride just about everything there.  Cort loved the rope climbing, hated the water slides.  Everly wanted to go on everything - the bigger the better.  (She even went on the Blast Off ride that shoots you up and drops you down.)  They both loved the spraying water attractions, the parade, seeing all of the characters and shows, the slides, and of course, the ridiculously huge lollipops that we splurged on, knowing there would be no way they could finish them.

John and I loved seeing them so happy.